DAVID SHOEBRIDGE: I have never heard of any other instance where senior police are getting regular reports of serious crimes and retaining no records of the crime. There is no explanation in the documents we've got about who told her to shred the documents, whether she told her superiors about the shredding of the documents.

EMILY BOURKE: The Police Minister Michael Gallacher wants an urgent briefing from the Commissioner of New South Wales Police

And others are asking questions too.

NICHOLAS COWDERY: In the way that this association was conducted, it seems to have been pretty cosy.

EMILY BOURKE: Nicholas Cowdery is a former director of public prosecutions in New South Wales.

NICHOLAS COWDERY: For official involvement of a government agency in an activity of that kind not to be documented is quite unusual and improper.

EMILY BOURKE: New South Wales Police have issued a statement saying that the original documents are held by the Church and only copies were shredded.

The statement goes on to say that the Special Commission of Inquiry investigating sexual abuse in the Hunter region will now look at the circumstances surrounding the appointment of a police officer to the Catholic Church's expert panel and how that group operated.

The director of the Professional Standards Office for the Catholic Church, Michael Salmon, has confirmed his office holds the only record of the minutes of the meetings.

He says the documents will not be released unless requested by the Royal Commission. He told Lateline it was part of the usual procedure that participants returned or destroyed documents relating to this expert panel.

Lawyer Judy Courtin has been researching sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. She says the processes and the composition of the Church's internal committees should be made public.

JUDY COURTIN: If that was going on, what else has been going on? Who are the other members on these resource group committees? What's going on in other states and territories? And just even their basic processes and procedures would be something that they need to now make public.

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From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.